ECO-FOOTPRINT CHALLENGE – PAPER VS. PLASTIC

BillerudKorsnas AB have recently launched a website, www.challengeconventional.com, to provide information and insight into developments in sustainable and smart packaging capabilities from the fibre based industry. The following is from the site..

Plastic or paper? It’s a decision consumers face nearly every day. And for many the answer is easy. Most know that compostable paper can help solve the global litter problem.

But what many don’t know is that by choosing paper over plastic, they are supporting significantly cleaner production and helping in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2).

With plastic pasta bags (polypropylene), material production produces considerably higher emissions of greenhouse gases than it does for paper bags. The production of the paper packaging, in turn, demands more energy than the plastic version and gives off greater emissions of greenhouse gases with the current energy mix.

By far the greatest difference between the types of materials is seen in the bottle, where the paper bottle produces 72% lower greenhouse gas emissions than the PET bottle. The material PET demands a great deal of energy in the production of the packaging, which produces high emissions with the current energy mix.

For further information or to see the interactive graphs please visit: http://www.challengeconventional.com